Stephen Dinan
Articles by Stephen Dinan
TSA bragged about gun seizure success rate ahead of new failure report
This week's report that the Transportation Security Agency failed to spot 95 percent of contraband weapons snuck through in tests of airport screeners comes just a few months after the agency bragged about the good job it was doing in sniffing out guns and other weapons. Published June 2, 2015
IRS missed chances to stop cyberattack: Auditor
The IRS ignored repeated warnings from its own inspector general that could have made it much harder for the cyberattackers who stole the private taxpayer information of 100,000 Americans earlier this year, the agency's inspector general testified to Congress on Tuesday. Published June 2, 2015
TSA chief ousted after airport security flunks test, misses most weapons, explosives
The acting chief of the Transportation Security Administration was ousted late Monday night after an embarrassing new report found that airport security officers badly failed a new test, missing almost every firearm and explosive investigators tried to sneak by them. Published June 1, 2015
Patriot Act backers scramble to save NSA phone snooping powers
Patriot Act defenders mounted a last-ditch effort Monday to try to preserve the NSA's phone-snooping, arguing -- against most evidence to the contrary -- that the program is useful in the fight against terrorists, and insisting it has been grossly distorted by opponents. Published June 1, 2015
Social Security paid $20M to Nazis
Social Security paid more than $20 million in benefits to alleged Nazis over the last five decades, according to a new internal audit completed late last week that found the last known or suspected Nazi finally stopped getting benefits only last month. Published June 1, 2015
Rand Paul stalls Patriot Act NSA surveillance powers past renewal deadline
Key government surveillance powers under the Patriot Act were set to expire Monday after Republican leaders were unable to surmount the objections of Sen. Rand Paul, sending Congress careening past a midnight deadline. Published May 31, 2015
Drug smugglers get creative in bids to elude U.S. border guards
Hidden inside a load of green peppers, sealed in bales of coiled cable wire, stuffed inside the cups of women's bras -- drug runners are finding increasingly innovative places to stash their illicit cargo as they try to sneak it by U.S. border guards. Published May 31, 2015
Patriot Act expiration looms with Senate stalemate on USA Freedom Act
With the Patriot Act expiration looming at midnight, senators appeared no closer Sunday to a deal with Republican leaders insisting on either a full extension of all powers or else nothing at all. Published May 31, 2015
John Boehner ‘saddened’ by indictment of former GOP speaker Dennis Hastert
House Speaker John A. Boehner said Friday he was "shocked" to learn of the accusations against his predecessor, former Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, who was indicted by a grand jury this week on charges of hiding currency and lying to FBI officials about it. Published May 29, 2015
Obama, James Clapper plead Senate GOP to relent on Patriot Act standoff
President Obama and the government's chief intelligence official made a plea Friday for Senate Republican leaders to relent in their fight to preserve the NSA's phone-snooping program, saying that unless a deal is reached by Sunday, investigators will no longer be able to apply for new roving wiretaps come Monday. Published May 29, 2015
Homeland Security granted work visas despite injunction
The administration is fighting feverishly to try to keep a federal judge from riding herd on its deportation amnesty, saying in papers filed late Wednesday that while Homeland Security goofed in breaking a court injunction, it was an "isolated" incident and vowing it won't happen again. Published May 28, 2015
Dennis Hastert agreed to pay $3.5 million to hide ‘prior misconduct,’ indictment alleges
A federal grand jury indicted former House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert Thursday with trying to circumvent currency rules and then lying to the FBI to hide payments he was making for past "misconduct" against an individual he seemingly knew from his time as a high school coach and teacher. Published May 28, 2015
IRS bilked for billions in bogus refunds: audit
The IRS has gotten better at detecting fraud but still paid out $2.1 billion in potentially bogus refunds in 2012, according to a new audit Thursday that found the agency paid refunds on nearly 600 tax returns filed to the same address in Kilkenny, Ireland. Published May 28, 2015
House GOP demands criminal investigation into Lois Lerner
Insisting Lois G. Lerner is still a target, congressional Republicans sent a letter to new Attorney General Loretta Lynch Thursday asking her to follow through on their official request last year for a criminal investigation into Ms. Lerner's behavior at the IRS. Published May 28, 2015
John Kerry sued over Clinton emails; ‘coverup’ alleged
A watchdog group sued Thursday to try to force the State Department to collect all of former Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton's emails from her time in government, saying the Obama administration broke the law by letting her keep them. Published May 28, 2015
Judge rejects State Dept. plan for Hillary Clinton emails, sets timetable for release
A federal judge rejected the Obama administration's latest effort to delay release of some of former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's emails, issuing an order Wednesday demanding that the State Department start rolling out the emails on a firm schedule every month. Published May 27, 2015
EPA expands powers over land use in bid to control water pollution
The administration announced rules Wednesday to grant federal agencies sweeping environmental oversight over wetlands, ponds and even some ditches in a move supporters said will clean up dirty waters but which critics said was a capstone power grab for a lame-duck president. Published May 27, 2015
Hillary Clinton emails: State proposes release that could stretch into 2016
The State Department told a federal court Tuesday that it will still likely be next year before it's able to release all of former Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton's emails publicly, though officials said they'll release them in batches every two months or so between now and then. Published May 26, 2015
IRS hit by cyberattack, thousands of taxpayers’ information stolen
Fraudsters stole private information from the IRS on more than 100,000 taxpayers and used it to bilk the agency of tens of millions of dollars, Commissioner John Koskinen said Tuesday -- though he insisted the breach didn't affect most Americans. Published May 26, 2015
Appeals court deals blow to Obama amnesty
A federal appeals court refused to lift an injunction against President Obama's deportation amnesty in a ruling Tuesday that delivers a second major legal setback to the administration and keeps millions of illegal immigrants on hold. Published May 26, 2015
